Mar
19
2013

TIME TO GO

To our readers I want to say it is time for us to go. We wish all good luck in the future and hope you have prepared yourselves for the collapse. It is time for us to look out for our loved ones and so we are closing this blog down. Thanks to those who have contributed and have taken the time to read the articles presented here.

 

Be safe and God bless.

Mar
9
2013

‘BERETTAS DON’T BLUFF’

‘BERETTAS DON’T BLUFF’: MAJOR GUN COMPANY THREATENS TO LEAVE MARYLAND OVER NEW GUN CONTROL PROPOSALS

Feb. 24, 2013 7:07pm 

A woman holds a Beretta pistol at a gun buyback event at the Bridgeport Police Department’s Community Services Division on December 22, 2012 in Bridgeport, Connecticut.

Beretta USA is threatening to leave Maryland over new gun control proposals, the Washington Post reports, and they would take hundreds of jobs along with them.

“Why expand in a place where the people who built the gun couldn’t buy it?” Jeffrey Reh, general counsel for Beretta, asked.

The Washington Post explains:

Beretta, the nearly 500-year-old family-owned company that made one of James Bond’s firearms, has already invested more than $1 million in the [civilian version of a machine gun designed for special operations forces] and has planned to expand its plant further in Prince George’s County to ramp up production.

But under an assault-weapons ban that advanced late last week in the Maryland General Assembly, experts say the gun would be illegal in the state where it is produced.

Now Beretta is weighing whether the rifle line, and perhaps the company itself, should stay in a place increasingly hostile toward its products. Its iconic 9mm pistol — carried by every U.S. soldier and scores of police departments — would also be banned with its high capacity, 13-bullet magazine.

[...]

In testimony this month in Annapolis, Reh, who oversees the plant, warned lawmakers to consider carefully the company’s future. Reh pointed to the last time Maryland ratcheted up gun restrictions in the 1990s: Beretta responded by moving its warehouse operation to Virginia.

 

 

“I think they thought we were bluffing” in the 1990s, Reh said. “But Berettas don’t bluff.”  ​[Emphasis added]

Lawmakers are justifiably concerned that Beretta– which won a contract in 1985 to produce the standard sidearm for all U.S. military personnel and has shipped more than half a million guns to the Army, Air Force, Navy and Marines, according to the Washington Post– will leave its well-known home in Maryland.

“I think they’re going to move,” Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr. (D-Calvert) commented. “They sell guns across the world and in every state in the union — to places a lot more friendly to the company than this state.”

Opponents to gun control legislation in Maryland hold a rally in Annapolis, Md. on Wednesday, Feb. 6, 2013. (Photo: AP)

The Washington Post continues:

“We literally are part of the arsenal of democracy,” said Reh, sweeping his hand toward the production floor, where on a recent afternoon more than 1,000 of the military version of the pistol sat in various stages of assembly. “That’s why we consider this so insulting.”

To fulfill the contract, Beretta expanded the plant by the length of a football field, installed an underground shooting range and hired 500 people. By 1990, during the peak of the first Gulf War, the company was the second-largest employer in Southern Maryland and had a supply chain of contractors that employed hundreds more.

[...]

The assault-weapons ban isn’t the only part of the governor’s bill Beretta dislikes.

In Maryland, gun manufacturers are required to register as firearms dealers, which some saycould expose the company to lawsuits for selling and shipping weapons as dealers do. The Senate Judiciary Committee, which passed the governor’s bill 7 to 4 late Thursday, spelled out an exemption for Beretta and a handful of other smaller manufacturers in the state.

But the company said it is still not clear how it would handle warranty and repair issues for its many lines of guns, which are also serviced in Accokeek. The bill does not specify if the company could charge to fix guns that would be deemed illegal for sale, or if it could legally ship them back to their owners. Lawmakers said intermediary gun dealers would likely have to facilitate the transactions.  ​[Emphasis added]

Some lawmakers are expressing confidence that they can strike a deal with Beretta, keeping the jobs the company provides while also enacting stricter gun control measures.  And if possible, Beretta likely doesn’t want to relocate at their own expense.

But according to the Washington Post, the company’s Italian “patriarch” Ugo Gussalli Beretta expressed a lack of confidence in the state.

“All I can tell you is, there always seems to be a problem with Maryland,” he reportedly said.

Mar
9
2013

Gun accidents down, but other home accidents on the rise

 

Feb 8, 2013 9:00 AM
 
 
 

Contrary to what you might expect from all the news about gun violence, accidental deaths from guns in the home are relatively uncommon, and have actually gone down slightly in recent years, according to a new study. But other deadly accidents at home, including poisonings, falls, and burns, are far more common, and on the rise. The good news: some simple measures can help prevent most of them.

The study, published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, looked at data from 2000 to 2008. More than 30,000 people die from accidents in the home each year, the study found. The three leading causes of accidental deaths were poisonings (43 percent), falls (34 percent), and fire or burn injuries (9 percent). Firearm mishaps accounted for just 1 percent of all accidental deaths in the home.

Poisoning, mostly from unintentional drug overdoses, and falls were the most common causes among adults. Suffocation and drowning were the deadliest accidents for children.

The good news is that accidents at home are highly predictable and preventable. The researchers point to key safety interventions you can implement in your home, such as limiting access to prescription medications, supervising children, and having smoke alarms that work.

As the authors of this study conclude: “Although injury statistics can guide practice and research, a more powerful force is the people behind the statistics whose lives can be spared and disabilities prevented through the application of effective injury prevention strategies at home.”

See our advice on:
Preventing falls
Smoke alarms
Fire extinguishers
Dangerous baby products to avoid
Drowning hazards

Source:
Fatal Unintentional Injuries in the Home in the U.S.: 2000-2008 [American Journal of Preventive Medicine]

—Desiree Ferenczi

Feb
7
2013

See the Prayer Breakfast Speech That’s Grabbing Headlines: Doctor Attacks Political Correctness, National Debt in Front of Obama

  • Dr. Benjamin Carson delivered a noteworthy National Prayer Breakfast keynote speech in President Barack Obama’s presence
  • Carson attacked political correctness as a “dangerous” threat to free speech and encouraged Americans to boldly share their views
  • The pediatric neurosurgeon also provided his theories about the national debt, deficits, taxation and health care, taking stances that were opposed to the president’s
  • Obama watched intently as Carson spoke for more than 25 minutes

One of the more unique speeches delivered at this morning’s National Prayer Breakfast came from Dr. Benjamin S. Carson, a world-renowned pediatric neurosurgeon at Johns Hopkins Hospital. Taking the stage before President Barack Obama’s faith-filled address, Carson spoke for more than 25 minutes, tackling issues ranging from education to personal responsibility. His keynote, while predicated upon the theme of Jesus Christ as his ultimate role model, also took a starkly political tone, advocating against some of the very policies the president has implemented.

Dr. Benjamin Carson Delivers Keynote at National Prayer Breakfast | Political

At the beginning of his speech, Carson shared an intense disdain for political correctness. Without getting too specific on the issue front, he said that Americans should stop being afraid to speak up and defend their beliefs; he also encouraged people to respect the individuals they disagree with. Carson held little back, condemning political correctness as “a horrible thing” that is “dangerous,” as it hampers freedom of thought and expression.

“We’ve reached a point where people are actually afraid to talk about what they want to say, because somebody might be offended,” Carson said, noting the example of people refraining from saying “Merry Christmas.” “We’ve got to get over this sensitivity and it keeps people from saying what they really believe.”

 

 


 

Carson encouraged discussion about societal issues, also pointing out education as an essential conundrum the country needs to confront. He highlighted his own path from poverty to success, sharing very personal details about his parents and early family life and subsequently described the importance of helping students seeking to advance academically through his Carson Scholars Fund.

The speech took an interesting turn when the doctor cautioned that moral decay and fiscal irresponsibility can have dire consequences — even for powerful countries like America. Here, he became even more pointed and impassioned.

“I think particularly about ancient Rome. Very powerful — nobody could even challenge them militarily…they destroyed themselves from within,” Carson continued. “Moral decay. Fiscal irresponsibility.”

While he said America’s issues are dire, he was positive that the nation can fix its ways, as there are bright and innovative people who simply need to come together to address the problems at hand.

“And one of our big problems right now…our deficit is a big problem,” he said, as Obama watched him intently. ”Think about it — and our national debt — $16 and a half trillion dollars.”

Dr. Benjamin Carson Delivers Keynote at National Prayer Breakfast | Political

To illustrate just how massive the debt is, Carson told the audience that if they counted one number per second, it would take them 507,000 years to get to the sum total. The doctor said that the massive fiscal blunder is something that the nation must contend with. From there, he moved on to taxation, seemingly taking a stance in direct opposition to Obama’s.

“What about our taxation system — so complex there is no one that can possibly comply with every jot and tittle,” he noted, going on to call for a simpler (i.e. flat tax) system. ”When I pick up my Bible, you know what I see — I see the fairest individual in the universe — God — and he’s given us a system. It’s called tithe.”


 

Carson progressed, seemingly comparing the tithe, at least in principal, to the flat tax system. Rather than continuing to tier taxes owed, he argued that everyone should pay the same proportion and that, through this fairer system, money sent by wealthier Americans for protection abroad should be brought back to America to help build infrastructure and create additional jobs.

The doctor also addressed medical care, advocating for health savings accounts and railing against the notion that Americans should be sending money into a large bureaucratic system.

You can watch the entire, 26-minute speech below:

Feb
4
2013

BHO FAILED